Even the source was questioned. Searching for and then subsequently discovering the source of the river Nile was not so simple, and even today the authenticity of its source is somewhat questioned. It all depends from which point of view or country one looks at it.

Jinja Nile Bridge.

How do trails work? Based on subjective opinions, one is lead to believe what others fail to or even want to believe. Even the very opinionated source of a river! Reason? Maybe not. Something similar rings true today about how one views the very Source that gives us Life and that we may even take for granted.

This Tale exposes the source of the Victoria Nile, an outlet of Lake Victoria at Jinja, Uganda, on its northern shore.

John Hanning Speke, an English army officer and explorer was the first European to visit Lake Victoria’s southern shore in 1858. Without precise evidence backing his claim that Lake Victoria was the source of the Nile and needing to prove his theory correct he set out to find a northern shore river. In 1862 he saw the Nile, determined it so, and claimed this spot as being the elusive ‘Source of the Nile’.

However, some fellow explorers such as Richard Burton and David Livingstone disagreed with Speke based on his lack of precision, and that the Nile’s source was more complex than his claims. Doubts grew in the Royal Geographical society at the time and even today, all of Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia lay claim to its source!

Speke Monument.

What we know to be true determines our questions.

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” – Colossians 1:15-17

From what source are you running?